Haiti cholera toll creeps past 300: WHO

The death toll in Haiti's cholera epidemic has risen to 303, the World Health Organisation has said as the number of cases creeps towards the 5000 mark.

"As of 27 October, the Ministry of Health in Haiti reported 4722 cholera cases including 303 deaths," the WHO said in an update on the cholera epidemic.

The data included 11 new deaths and 575 more infections since figures given by Haiti's health department on Wednesday.

The WHO said four departments (administrative areas) had reported confirmed cases, with the overwhelming majority (99.4 percent) in the Artibonite and Central Plateau.

It warned on Wednesday that the outbreak was far from over and Haiti should prepare for the disease to hit its capital Port-au-Prince, which is teeming with tent cities after January's catastrophic earthquake.

The acute intestinal bacteria is is thought to have infected the Artibonite River, a major waterway that runs through Haiti to the coast near Saint Marc - the outbreak's epicentre, located some 100 kilometres north of Port-au-Prince.